"Pardon, my lord," said he, "you are making a mistake." "I? How is that?" "Why, you only owe me four ounces, I believe." "Well?" "You are giving me eight." "I give you four ounces because I owe them to you, and I add four others, because, before parting with you, I wish to give a proof of my satisfaction of the manner in which you have done your duty." A second time the mameluco hesitated, but exercising great control over himself, and stepping back, as if to wish to escape the fascination exercised over him by the sight of the metal, he placed, although with an evident repugnance, four of the pieces of gold on a chest, answering with a voice stifled with emotion-- "I am very grateful to you, my lord, but I cannot accept so rich a present." "Why not, if it pleases me to make it, Malco? Am I not the master, to dispose of what belongs to me?" "Yes, my lord, you are free to do that; but I repeat that I shall not accept the money." "At least you will give me an explanation of this enigma, for if I do not deceive myself, you love gold." "Yes, my lord, when it is honourably gained, but I am not a beggar to accept a remuneration to which I consider I have no right." "These sentiments do you honour," answered the young man, with a biting raillery. He then took the four pieces of gold, chinked them in his hand, and then put them again into his purse. "Now we are quits." And with a gesture, he ordered the mameluco to withdraw. The latter, very ill at ease under the searching look of the marquis, did not wait for the suggestion to be repeated. He bowed awkwardly, and left the tent. He then proceeded to his horse, which he had attached some paces off to a stake, threw himself in the saddle, and went off with a pensive air, descending the mountain at a gentle trot in the direction of the Sertão, at the entry of which the caravan had established its bivouac. When he had gone sufficiently far not to fear being seen, he broke off abruptly to the right, and returned. "Devil of a man," murmured he, in a low voice, attentively surveying the shrubs and thickets for fear of surprise; "it is evident that he suspects something; I have not a moment to lose; for--I know him. If I permit myself to hesitate, I am a lost man; but if I don't hesitate, the affair is too good for me not to devote all my efforts to bring it to a good conclusion. We shall see who will gain the day." Then vigorously putting spurs to his horse, the mameluco pressed into a gallop, and was not long disappearing into the darkness; for, during his conversation with his former master, the night had fallen. Meanwhile, as soon as the mameluco had quitted the tent, the marquis rose with a gesture of rage and of menace, but almost immediately reseating himself--